A Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Electoral Observer Mission is on the ground in Suriname to monitor the general elections underway today. The Mission is monitoring the electoral process, including the opening of the Poll, the voting process, the closing of the Poll and the counting of the ballots.

The Mission is headed by Mr. Ian Browne, the Deputy Chief Elections Officer in Barbados. Mr. Browne has served as a member of several CARICOM Election Observer Missions including the one mounted for the June 2014 general elections in Antigua and Barbuda where he served as Deputy Chief of Mission. The other members of the Mission include experts in Electoral Management and Administration from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.

Members of the Mission and the CARICOM Secretariat Support Staff were in Suriname from 20 May, and will leave on Thursday, 28 May.

The Observer Mission will issue a preliminary statement based on its observations and findings. A Report of the General Elections will be subsequently prepared and submitted to the CARICOM Secretary General.

For CARICOM, election observation serves as a platform to support existing democratic traditions within CARICOM as part of its wider policy of supporting democracy.